Chester County's Evan Allen running at lightning speed this season

Each year cross-country runners from across West Tennessee and Memphis use the West Tennessee Fall Classic as a measuring stick of how far they have come this season.

The best runners in the area run in the race held at Union University.

And one thing was obvious on Tuesday: Chester County sophomore Evan Allen has the ability to blow past the competition. He had a time of 17:23.95 to win the West Tennessee Fall Classic.

"I just tried to keep up with the gator the whole time," Allen said. "I thought I could have done a little better today, but there were a lot of good runners out there today."

Allen won the boys' race by 35 seconds, which is a long time on the cross-country track.

"That is a crazy amount," Chester County coach Stephanie Hatch said. "He is crazy good, and he is God sent."

From the turn around the hedges shaped in a "U" on Union's campus, Allen started to pull away from the competition.

He set his pace and stuck to it until he crossed the finish line with another first-place finish.

After finishing 18th at the Class A-AA state track meet last year, Allen has been motivated to be the best this year.

He has won every race he has run in, except for one because the track was muddy and he slipped.

"I have done a lot more conditioning this year," Allen said. "We had a lot of seniors last year, and they motivated me to be even better this year."

Hatch said that Allen has worked hard in the offseason to improve his time and get better.

"He has gone from finishing third through sixth to winning almost every race he has raced in," Hatch said.

Reach Michael Odom at michodom@jacksonsun.com or 731-425-9754 and on Twitter @JSWriterMichael.